Sweet Dreams
by JustAnotherFangirl27
Summary: <html><head></head>Astrid and Hiccup have finally tied the knot! But after performing their last binding rite Hiccup understands how truly scared Astrid is. Teen to be safe. One-shot.</html>


HTTYD – Sweet Dreams

Hiccup's eyes fluttered open and he groaned. His head was still fuzzy from the alcohol and a sour taste filled his mouth. He blinked several times and rolled onto his back, the rough sheets pooled around him making a strange sensation across his naked skin. He looked to see that it was still dark. It was the type of dark that came just before the sun broke over the horizon and turned the sky pink, purple and red. Hiccup sighed, that meant he hadn't been asleep for long.

He fingered the rough cloth sheets and warm, furry quilt over top. The sheets were brown and made of a rough, scratching fabric. Hiccup wasn't ashamed about getting those type of sheets stained. He looked at the quilt that was obviously made of animal fur.

The quilt had once graced his parent's large bed and there were many memories of its warmth stuck in his head. When he had gotten sick his mother would always wrap him up in it and stay beside him, filling his head with stories of brave Vikings and their many quests. After his mother had died he would always wrap himself in the blanket to remind himself of his mother and when he got sick the only comfort his father knew how to offer was to wrap him in that special blanket. He'd always wondered what kind of animal it was made of but always forgot to ask.

He felt a weight and warmth in bed next to him and then it came back to him: the wedding, the alcohol, then going to their new house, then the heat and passion and finally falling into unconsciousness. Although it must not have been a long unconsciousness because the wedding had lasted long into the night, past the midnight hour and then to their new home and then the last binding rite of the marriage, so that by the time slumber had consumed them both it was getting close to morning. Hiccup smiled to himself, it felt strange to be sharing a bed with someone, but he found he quite liked the idea of being able to wake up next to Astrid every day and see the smile she reserved just for him.

His stump ached in reminder that last night had been a bit rough and he turned his head slightly to see his prosthetic lying on top of a pile of hastily discarded clothes that he and Astrid had been wearing only hours previous. A smiled crossed the young man's face when he remembered the dress his wife had been wearing and the fancy – but uncomfortably warm – clothes he himself had worn during the celebration.

The smile his mouth had curled up into vanished when he heard a soft whimper beside him. He turned quickly towards Astrid. She was turned away from him, her enticingly soft blonde hair flowing down her unclothed back like a golden waterfall. Hiccup remembered how soft her hair had been against his skin... then he shook his head and reminded himself to stay in the present.

"Astrid?" he asked gently, a hand reaching out to comfort his wife.

She tensed and turned to face him. Her blue eyes were red and watering and Hiccup could see her straining to hold back tears. "Hiccup, I didn't think you were awake," her voice quavered slightly.

Hiccup could tell something was wrong. He had suspected it the whole of the wedding party. Astrid had talked and smiled with everyone, she had laughed at all the jokes, accepted the wine they offered her, but somehow Hiccup had known her smile didn't reach to her eyes like it did when she was really smiling. She never showed weakness around anyone – except him. He had made her understand that weakness was okay, that no one was perfect and that whatever flaws she had he could look past and love her still – but even so, it was a hard won privilege if any Viking except the chieftain's son saw her in a weak or vulnerable position. He had been going to press the issue when they were alone, but Astrid had rushed them blindly forward and the heat had made Hiccup forget.

"Astrid, what's wrong?" Hiccup asked worriedly, his one hand cupping her face. She pulled away, breaking eye contact, as if she was too ashamed to look at him.

"Hiccup, I – I – took some bloodroot!" she managed to choke out, her voice nearly breaking as she said it.

Bloodroot. Hiccup didn't understand at first, and then the fuzziness clouding his brain was replaced with realization. Bloodroot, the herb that only Mother Grithella had access to; no one was sure exactly what it did, but Hiccup had a feeling that the rumours that it could stop children from being conceived if taken before what had happened earlier that night were true. He gulped as he remembered her taking a strange red mixture while he had removed his prosthetic before their final rite. Worry flickered inside him – if Astrid had taken it from the healer's without her knowing, then what would happen if Mother Grithella found out? And even worse, what if the herb made Astrid sick or hurt her? Hiccup couldn't bear the thought of losing her so soon after he had been allowed to call her his own.

"Astrid – why?" he asked, pain seeping through his voice.

"Hiccup, you know what's expected! The last binding rite in a Viking's marriage is to produce an heir for the chieftain! And well, look at me! I'm not motherly material!"

"Who said?" Hiccup asked angrily.

"Tuff, 'lout , 'legs and my father were joking about it last night!" Astrid murmured quietly, "Ruff joined in, but not wholeheartedly, it seemed like she was scared too, but didn't want to be left out. We've been friends for a good while, we talked about it days ago and that's how I found out about the Bloodroot."

Hiccup was silent as he processed Astrid's words. Fishlegs, Snotlout and Tuffnut joking about her wasn't anything new or surprising, Snotlout and Tuffnut were idiots and Fishlegs hated being left out, but her father, well that was something different. Hiccup had a feeling they had been joking through a drunken stupor, but to Astrid that would make no difference. She was all about making her father proud, being the best Viking in the village. Everyone knew what was expected of the girls, to be a good wife and maintain the home, but also to be as tough as any boy in the village. He remembered asking her father for permission to marry her and noticing the look of sober pride hidden behind his obvious act of disliking Hiccup. Avnar Hofferson – Avnar the Strong to the village – was proud of his daughter, even though she couldn't see it.

"Astrid," he murmured soothingly, "you'll do fine." He tried to put into his voice the confidence he felt for her, but if she heard it she didn't show it.

"Fine?" She questioned bitterly, her voice barely raising above a whisper, "If you think not being able to sew or cook or do the basics expected of a wife is what is average, then yes, I'm doing fine!"

Hiccup forced back his laughter as he remembered Astrid's failed attempts at sewing and the time she almost burnt down her house trying to cook. He sobered himself. He then enveloped her hand in his and placed his other arm behind her head so that she was lying on his arm. It was uncomfortable, but Hiccup didn't care. He tilted her head so that her soft blue eyes met his forest green ones, as he lovingly pulled her close to himself.

"Astrid, I've heard a lot about motherly instinct and one thing I know you excel at is following your instinct. You will do fine."

Astrid glared at him as if she didn't believe him. A tear managed to escape and rolled down her cheek in a thin, short line before she hastily wiped it away, until no trace remained.

Hiccup squeezed her hand lightly, making soft, slow circles with the thumb of his other hand along the back of her head. Her breathing slowed and her muscles relaxed.

"And whatever the case, I did not marry you to produce an heir, and I didn't marry you because you could cook or sew. I never wanted a soft, tender woman, like the ones in the other tribes, I wanted you. I love you the way you are Astrid and whether you have children or not will never change that."

Astrid smiled at him and sighed before closing her eyes and letting her muscles go slack. She gave in to the urge to sleep.

"I love you Astrid Hofferson," Hiccup murmured moments before Astrid fell in the blessed sanctuary of sleep.

He looked at her, watching her tenderly for a few moments as her chest rose and fell softly. _I wonder what she dreams about _Hiccup thought to himself. He knew that he dreamed of many things, sometimes all at once, sometimes alone. Sometimes he would dream of the village being the way it was before, before the Red Death, before the dragons, before everything. Sometimes he dreamed of being a child again when everything was simple and he was always included and always happy. Sometimes he dreamed about being with Astrid or Toothless. But most often he would dream about himself and Toothless flying together – whole and unbroken – above the white, foam clouds that hung in the painted sky.

"Sweet dreams," Hiccup murmured to his wife as he placed a tender, gentle kiss on her forehead.

He lay back down against the pillow, watching his wife sleep, as his eyes slowly closed. A thought entered his head before he left the waking world. _I may not know what happens next, whether I go to my father or Grithella and get Astrid to talk to them, or lie and hope it turns out okay by itself, but I am sure of one thing: there is no one I'd rather be with, no one I'd rather fight for than Astrid. I love her. _

And then Hiccup was in dream land, where the sky was always blue, where the village was always safe, where Astrid was happy and where Toothless and himself, both of them whole and strong, could soar effortlessly across the sky for as long as they pleased.

Astrid woke to bright light seeping through the thick material of the curtains on their window, a soft breeze managing to trickle through the obscuring fabric to tickle her nose. As her eyes adjusted to the brightness she saw her husband's face quite near to her own and realized she almost lying on top of him. Her head was resting on her hand, which lay on his shoulder, her other hand still loosely gripped by his own as both rested on his chest.

She watched him sleep for a few moments, feeling his chest rise and fall under her hand, watching his eyelids flutter and staring at the thin beard that obscured his chin. The scattering of freckles his face had once possessed were gone and Astrid missed those freckles. Though the only person she'd ever told that to was Ruffnut. Their legs were tangled together and she could feel the thin bandage on his stump where he'd lost his leg so long ago. She sighed and remembered those days that had been different.

Then she remembered what had happened, what had been said only hours ago. Pain and worry filled her breast again and she wondered how she could ever tell anyone else what had happened.

She looked at Hiccup again, sleeping peacefully, and she felt a sudden calm surround her. Hiccup was her husband. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. Hiccup the Useful, Hiccup the Wise. Hiccup, who had shown her the world from a dragon's back, who had taught her that it was okay to show love and pain and weakness, Hiccup who was always there beside her, comforting her, cheering her forward, Hiccup who was there for her to wrestle to the ground and mercilessly torment when she was angry, Hiccup who never turned her away. Hiccup was hers.

A thin line of a smile formed on her lips. _It doesn't matter what happens next because I've got Hiccup beside me, _she thought to herself.

"Sweet dreams, Hiccup," she murmured to the man lying next to her as his eyelids fluttered peacefully and he laughed in his dream world miles away.

**AN: Wrote this a time ago, but i'm posting this now! Anyways, this is based on a 2 pic from DeviantArt! Before the line of * is based on the first pic and after is based on the second pic. Hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading, links are in my profile!**


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